As if you had a choice
by elvie hun
Summary: Richard and Cara, my fave couple, as they should be. I hope to be able to cotinue later, now I just wanted to give them to each other: . Hope you'll enjoy!


The pond was blindingly pristine, its surface a filmy jade green in the afternoon glow, resembling the colour of glass bottles used to contain the finest _graef _cider of the Westlands. Seemed like a proper place for tonight's camp, for being both calm from winds and easy to armour if needed. Cara slid her agiels back, huffing in impatience that she could not use them again, as there was no apparent threat in miles' distance around. Richard has already thrown his stuff down, and now was joyously pacing towards the captivating water, letting out shocked _wow_-s on his way. As soon as he reached the coast, he knelt down and dipped his head into the cool waves like a thirsty puppy. Cara's stomach quivered at the sight of him on his knees, giving the perfect view to the cheeky swells of his bottom, his trousers definitely too tight on them to let her sleep tonight. As if answering her troubled thoughts, Richard's head popped out of the water, and he turned back towards her with that boyish grin Cara knew so well. The water dripping from his messy hair ran down his neck and chest, wetting the faded shirt and flattening it against his nipples, until she thought it would be wise to turn away and start setting the camp for the night.

-Wow, it's wonderful! And sweet! – the childish enthusiasm in his voice almost made Cara's lips twitch into a smile, but she managed to choke out a teasing:

-I'm dying to try…

-No, really. It's been weeks we've last had a proper bath, I think we should splash in! Come on, Cara, it's still hot! The water's warm, let's take a swim!

Cara froze. Is it possible that Richard just suggested a shared bath in the pond? Naked in the water? Together?

-Swim. – she half-asked doubtly, still not wanting to look at him.

She placed the backpacks and blankets neatly around the place she'd chosen for the evening fire, and finally turned around, only to find him already shirtless, covered with goose skin with the water oozing from his pores. _Spirits, that will be tough._ Besides, she was not used to swim in ponds for fun. A nice warm bath in the Temple, behind closed doors, and with a maid if possible to ease off the stiff muscles of the day, anytime. But this… _Challenge, eh?_

-And what about our stuff? I'm not leaving my Agiels out here unchecked.

Richard rolled his eyes.

-Spirits! Please, Cara! I'll keep watch, you can go first. You didn't seriously think I'd leave you out here alone unprotected and go off to chop firewood? – his laugh was almost real now, much like he used to laugh long _before_, but this time Cara could't feel joy over it, her cheeks on fire, heart pounding like crazy. _No, Seeker. To be honest I thought you would be in the pond with me, and decently sex the hell out of me after a nice swim. That's what I thought, crazy as ever, for sure._

- All right, I guess. Although I'm not glad to leave them to you… Don't you play with things that aren't yours, Seeker. – _Great, that was almost a real Cara-joke, you're doing fine, girl._

-I'm shaking in my boots. There's still some of that soap thing from the inn we stayed last month, if you want – and Richard lent a small jar to her. - Have fun!

The water was really fine, but not cool enough to press down Cara's upcoming thoughts and the heat in her insides. What was she thinking again? If Richard would want anything else from her aside what he already has, he would just claim it. He's her Lord, he would only have to say a word. But he did not… he never did.

After a few quick dips she opened the brown jar to spread some of the rosemary-scented cream on her hands. Not knowing what to do with the jar now, she screamed out „Richard?", and when he called back with a worried „Yes?"she threw it towards him over her shoulder without warning. _No harm ever came from training one's reflexes. _

- Nice one there! – he shouted back, and Cara wanted so badly to take it suggestive, wishing it described the look of her dripping nakedness from the distance and not the - obviously astonishing – jar toss-across. Oh, damnit, how deep can one get? She was burning, literally, in flames concentrating between her thighs, but still hot enough to flush her cheeks again and again. Playing with the slippery soap around her breasts and belly wasn't helping much to cool down, and Cara found herself panting heavily, waist-deep in the water and her trembling hands already stroking her slit. She swiftly looked around. „_Well, not the first time you'll have to help yourself, and if you get back to him in this state, you'll only make a spectacle before him anyway. Or more likely throw him on the ground and mount him yourself."_ No surprise, the thought itself was enough to lubricate her with something thicker and sweeter than water, and as a finger found its way up to her favourite spot, she really wished Richard was off to chop firewood. Doing it soundlessly was hard, and cumming silently almost impossible with that throbbing down there. Though it didn't take long, how could it have? With the image of him mounting her savagely from behind in her mind, Cara came with a low growl, still gratefully stroking her petals a bit after the sharp sparkling orgasm. _That was delicious._ She dipped down again, letting the water cover her head and flaming face for a minute. Walking back to face his bare chest and wet hair seemed much easier a task now, not to mention the thought of lying down beside him a few hours later and stroking him all innocently into sleep. _Not?_

Despite the quite liberating playtime in the pond, she was foolish enough to seemlessly lurk around a bush when Richard took his turn. She did not feel the slightest guilt taking in his impertinently shapely butt, glowing wet and amber-coloured, all she felt was the lust to march after him and grab those appetizing piles wildly, and maybe take a bite or two into them. Or lick them gently until they're trembling. Oh, wait, and of course to watch Richard writhe in delight under her attentions. _Grrr…_ Now she _really_ should stop.

Chopping wood suddenly seemed a great idea after he paced back up the slope, trousers still a bit wet at the thighs and waist, shirt in hand, nipples hard and maroon from the first chill of the nightfall. But going hunting and not coming back for at least two hours seemed an even better one.

_Her mouth was just inches from his, and whispering words of comfort, she got even closer. As their lips finally met, Cara's deep pink and pouted with desire, Richard's voluptuously shaped and just licked wet in embarrassment, she felt like her entire body, inside and out, was kissed and caressed, not just lips crushing hesitantly. She could hardly even taste him, when he already pulled backwards, only to come back after a moment of shocked breathing. His breath smelled of fear, defiance and excitement, and when his lips reached hers again, his eyes half-closed with surprised pleasure, that pure bliss was nearly as painful as the touch of an Agiel. He was soft and sleek, hovering around her lips arousingly, and waiting for their mouths to finally mesh was almost as delightful as the clash itself, she could't help but moan deeply with the promise of the approaching feeling. Finally, Richard's trembling tongue found hers, and delved into the softness and warmth she was awaiting him with. Thinking seemed to be a thing of the distant past, all she could feel was his mouth stroking and tasting hers, small hairs of his bristle tickling her face, all she could hear was the soft noises his lips made savouring hers, and all she could do was kissing him back and…_

Cara woke with a hiss, almost waking Richard too with the sudden movement, then she carefully unwrapped herself from the bedroll to sit up, face in flames. Spirits, let her _sleep_! These dreams were truly getting on her nerves. Maybe sleeping this close to him wasn't such a good idea after all. But… Richard needed it. And _she_ needed it too, although as for her, she would need a lot more than that.

On their first night together, far back in the lost future, when their first and last hesitating kiss happened–the one that haunted her ever since and again tonight -, she thought the reason of her getting so incredibly excited was just that the Seeker was inevitably a piece of beauty and knew his ways of kissing. Happy times when he seemed just a handsome prize to hunt down… _She was_ the prey now, the mighty Mord'Sith, and the creepy thing was that she never wanted anything more than to be hunted down, and torn to pieces.

The first few nights after Kahlan's death neither of them slept a minute. They were sitting by the cooling fire, nibbling on the last bites of some small and tasteless creature, hardly talking a word. Then, a few days later, Richard seemed to finally be admitting he won't be able to drag himself any further without sleeping, and let Cara awkwardly tug him into his sleeping roll like a drousy child. She was ready to take the first watch, or even to keep watch all night so he could finally get some sleep, and sat down by his side on her heels. But Richard suddenly reached out for her hand, with such a childlike, frail, vulnerable expression on his face that she nearly fainted from a sympathy she never felt before. _Would you, please?_ – he asked her, pleading quietly, and lifted the side of the sleeping roll so she could slide in beside him. Would she…? Spirits, was there anything in the world she wouldn't? Her insides wreathed in a cramp with the desire to please her lord, in any way he wanted. She knew long before the Mother Confessor died that this loyalty was more than simply the Mord'Sith duty. She had killed for him, would have died for him, that was never a question. Heck, she would spit in the eyes of the Keeper himself, and while at it, she'd turn around and do right the same with the Creator as well, if that was his wish.

So that night she lay beside his trembling form, folded the bedroll under themselves, and wrapped her arms around him. He was tense and cold, trembling so wildly that for a moment she thought he was sick. But in the warm embrace of a woman's soft flesh, Richard soon started to breathe more evenly. He buried his face into the soft, sweet smelling pillow of her breasts, and Cara thought he was already falling asleep as she started to run her fingers into his shaggy hair, caressing him in a silky, endearing way, as if to ease his dreams. But then Richard suddenly murmured „This's gmmmmd…" and her eyes sparkled up with the encouragement. His husky voice resonating against her breasts was the single most arousing thing she'd ever experienced, so full with the need for tenderness, but the tenderness Richard wanted had nothing to do with sex. He wanted intimacy, in the best sense of the word, and she was ready to give him what he wanted, exactly what he wanted, even if that hurt worse than any Agiel's touch. So she countinued stroking his scalp, neck and shoulder, delighting in the tiny goosebumps on his skin, and the deepening breaths of relaxation he took.

She watched him sleep in the dim light all night long, sometimes _shhh_-ing in his ears when he moaned and murmured with a threat of a nightmare, and never letting him go from her embrace. This new level of togetherness, besides being the protective, loyal servant - and the wanton Mord'Sith he quite often made her with simply a look or an innocent word - was something she never had encountered. She knew quite a few men in her life, she was even bedded a few times by Darken Rahl himself, and, pun intended, no woman who spent a night with that bastard was left pleasureless; but this intimacy was glowing with such a deep golden light that seemed enough to warm up the chilliest pit of the Underworld.

They spent the next night in this cozy closeness again, and the next again, and now for five months have they slept in each other's arms, keeping watch only for the darkest hour of the night. The quest for the Stone seemed to take Richard's mind off things enough times, and Cara sometimes secretly thanked for the seemingly senseless errands the were running from riddle to riddle. Richard had work to do, and that was good. He even laughed once in a while nowadays.

There was only one evening they had talked about their companions death, about six weeks after those things happened, but Cara was glad they didn't do it more often. The pain in Richard's eyes, that miserable expression on his face, seemed to contradict every muttered word he said about their friends' sacrifice being the only way for them to continue the quest, and to save the world, and that Kahlan herself was sure about that long ago, and Cara found herself agonizing not having anything to say that could comfort him. That night ended with Richard laying his head down in her lap, and Cara cradling his weary self until first light, unable to weep a drop of tear, but slowly dying inside with torment.

That was months ago, and since then, Richard seemed to be a little bit more of ease with the agony and remorse, as if that pathetic conversation had helped him out of the pit somehow. Whatever the reason was, that slightly mental, overprotective side of Cara's mind was grateful for every half-smile, every dinner spent with better appetite, and every second of night's sleep he had.

She stood up, poking the fire a little bit just for the sake of doing something, and walked around their camp in attempt to keep watch, although there really wasn't many things to fear these days. The night was warm, yet she found herself shivering time and again at the soft breeze through the branches. Richard was lying half on his side, his arms stretched above his head, his vest half open, small curly hairs in his armpit glowing slightly wet in the warmth of the rekindling fire. It must taste a bit salty, with some residues of the sweetness of the pond's water… How would Richard react if she dipped her tongue into that feathery softness for a moment?

_This is not doing any good_. Although she was thinking these words nearly every night, when waking from another miserable dream of him kissing her, tearing the maroon leather from her skin and piercing her feverishly, panting her name and exploding inside her with delight; murmuring that never helped much to bear this maddening need. But now she really couldn't find anything to keep herself busy with, so with a shallow sigh, she slithered herself back into the sleeping roll. Richard's dormant body responded immediately, he turned back towards her chest with a childlike huff, and the movement caressed her burning insides with a buttery satisfaction of him needing her presence. He took a deep sigh, huffed a few more and buried his cheeks back into her bust just like every night.

But for Cara this wasn't like every night right now. Her skin was scalloped with goosebumps at the sensation of him breathing between her breasts, sending soft breezes down her decolletté, breezes that even her bellybutton could feel, and she couldn't help her breath from accelerating, her heart from racing, her nipples from beading eagerly. Her silly mind went on from where she stopped the dream, imagining him tilting his head just an inch sideways, to mischievously lick her right nipple through the cool leather top. Almost gasping from the image, she tried to slow down, to think about something else, _anything else_ actually, to prevent this madness from evolving again. But then Richard quivered lightly in her arms, and, letting out a tiny, muffled sigh, he really did place a feathery, paddling kiss in her cleavage. Cara's brain seemed to liquify momentarily, her spine shivering up and down, while trying to figure out if that was just an all-too-vivid dream of Kahlan, or really an awake kiss. If it's the first one, that would be a _really_ wicked joke of fate… But then he continued, and the first option flew out the window, right along with a big chop of her common sense.

He kissed the top of her right breast again, his mouth soft and wet, with much less hesitation, and again, and again, until it wasn't separate kisses anymore, just a deep, wet, velvety trail of delight leading towards her nipple. Cara was breathtaken from the surprise and accomplishment, and the mellow delight of his lips. Richard's toungue, playing dirty, took a nifty lick over the leather, making her poor bud nearly piercing through the coat, while his hand fiddled about the strings of her top, and then her breasts suddenly popped free from their prison. Cara wasn' sure if she should believe this. The idea of him wanting her, with the same lust she did want him, was simply too much heaven right now. Though, at the next sensation Cara decided not to care if it was real, as long as it felt this god_damn_ good. Sniffling into the evaporating scent from between the two heavy balls, Richard took them into his hands, and started to stroke them with soft squeezes. Even that seemed too much to bear, but when he soflty mouthed one bared nipple, as if something holy and sacred, Cara couldn't help but let out a low _gnaaaarhh _with her head dropping back to the bedroll and her breast flexing against the tender tormentor for more. Her Seeker's hot mouth licking on that incredibly sensitive spot, the quiet suckling noises his lips made while pampering her, his familiarly coarse hand firmly, occupyingly gripping her breasts, claiming them as his own, could have been enough for her to come, but she wanted time. She wanted this to go on forever, yes, but first of all, she wanted his lips. _Richard_, she managed to breathe out, and he looked up on her, his deep chestnut eyes dim and misty with a raw, animalic sort of desire. He was simply gorgeous. Cara was sure there was nothing in the whole bloody world as beautiful as his face right that moment. She didn't have to kiss him first, he leant down, placing the same petting kisses, that made her breasts go to heaven, on her lips, and then suddenly delving just as deep and mellow inside as in the dream before.

Richard broke the kiss finally, and went on with her clothes, impatiently unfolding the silky forms from the leggings, until she was all naked before him. Taking a few savage, hungry glances on her shapes, he slid his palm between her thighs, and gave a shocked moan noticing she's soaking wet for him. Pleasure was nearly unbearable as he carefully parted her swollen petals, and one trembling finger finding her oversensitive clit, started to massage it. The delight of his slick fingers tendering her nub came in mellow circles first, then the circles started to narrow, until the insufferable joy was concentrated at a throbbing area of just a pinpoint. The scream was already on Cara's toungue, her hips quivering to the rythm of the rubbing, but right before the edge, Richard stopped playing with her nub, and, with that boyish grin, leaned down to taste her.

_Oh. Merciful. Creator_. How long has she been fantasizing about his lips licking her? She couldn't have told if she had to. His tongue felt like spreading thick, dark, hot honey over her, as he carefully sucked in her clit, teasing and sweetening it so softly that it almost hurt, and occassionally dipped his tongue deep inside her sheath. Everything felt slick, and wet, and tingling, and pulsating, and… and then Richard slowly eased two fingers inside her, and that seemed to be the edge of everything, the whole world perhaps.

He was torturingly skillful, Stars, he was. His fingers pressed their way inside her, finding just the perfect spot to curl sharply upwards. Cara knew what to expect, yet she was left breathless, her back arching high with the sensation of his fingertip rubbing circles on the soft spongy spot hidden inside, known to her of bringing the wildest delights every time touched. Richard's lips were still gently suckling on her clit, shooting spurts of double-sided pleasure through her. Letting out groaning _aaarrhhh_-s with every breath, she soon realized that though this was going to end with such a monumental orgasm she never had before - or more appropriately, _noone_ in the world has ever had before - but for sure too soon. Carefully, she pulled his hands out from her slit, relishing in the sensation of his hands all moist from her lust, and gasping to try and put herself together somehow.

-Nnnn... – Richard protested gruffly, breathing so hard as if he'd just slaughtered a d'haran legion, moaning into her neck at the feeling of his hardness pressing against her thigh – You can't stop now… I want you…

-No. Not before I took _my turn_ of tasting _you_, Lord Rahl. Not before I licked you unconscious, as you did to me, that's for sure. – Her voice was still throaty and hoarse with lust, but that seemed to do it for Richard: his eyes rolled back with pleasure at her words, as he gave in, easing her hands to strip him with his eyes still closed. The only way for Cara not to explode inside immediately, just from the greedy desire on his face, was to take up the classic Mord'Sith courtesan-mask. Now she is going to do her duty.

„_I'm giving him comfort in his pain. He's the Lord Rahl, and I'm his Mord'Sith, and this is what I have to do."_ But she knew it was not true. _This_ was not giving him comfort or ease, not even giving him love. She was _worshipping_ him. Not knowing if this first time was the last or not, she took every second of her time to taste, to please, study and explore the gentleness of his skin, the salt of his sweat, the hard-earned shapes of her Warlord, her Master, her Man.

And she was going to be mean, yes. A lean-mean Mord'Sith that she is. Drawing her almost embarrassingly affectionate circles on Richard's skin, suckling onto his nipples, licking and biting awake every spot of the gorgeous flesh, and relishing in the sounds she solicited from the man's throat, she carefully ignored his throbbing groin. Richard was almost sobbing with need every time she reached down his smooth belly or up his inner thighs, whispering _„please, ooh, please"_ hoarsely from time to time, but she didn't give in: didn't even look at the weighty prize, too scared to be distracted.

Richard seemed to miss some heartbeats when she carefully, but firmly grabbed his hips and tugged him to turn around, until he was half lying on his stomach before her. The butt that almost made her drool earlier today was right there at her reach to taste, and she held on a bit to indulge in the triumph. It's hers, she thought, running caressing fingernails round the firm flesh. But now, on to Richard's pleasure… _Grin. _Now that is certainly something he would't think about. Grabbing his right thigh and pulling it up to his chest, she bared the sweaty slit between his stout cheeks. Spirits, perfect. _Purr-fect._ _He is going to explode from this. _She leant over him, placing one sleek finger between, and running it down, with just a slight touch of her nails. The stunned hiss his Seeker gave assured her that he never had felt these pleasures before. _Perfect_, she thought again, and licked her index finger wet before she started gently massaging the stiff ring of muscles. Richard's body twitched, and he let out a half-insane whimper, so Cara could't hold out any longer. When she hungrily licked his slit, her lips and tongue tremblingly, moistly and meltingly soft, Richard's agonized cry burst out so loud the lake was echoing it, and so did Cara's ears and insides. _I'm making him do this, it's me who's giving him these delights_, she thought, and the satisfaction nearly choked her. She licked him deeper, softly first, sweetening the tense muscles, then giving him stirringly swift laps along that sensitive path until he was hustling his hips back and forth unconsciously, as if already pumping inside her, sobbing pleadingly at the same rythm. And that was the point that did it, with a wanton moan she grabbed his thigh again, flung it over her neck, licked her way quickly upwards to meet his heavy balls and finally, took her first, thirsty look upon her Lord Rahl's masterful shaft.

It was truly a thing of beauty. She knew from stolen, lurking looks on his bulging trousers that he must be impressive, and the naked truth gave her not the slightest disappointment. It was thick and heavy, glowing so wet and dark with need between the trembling thighs that it made her mouth wet. She wanted to taste it so bad. She ran a finger along it, sensing the pulsing veins all around, picturing its rock-hard, stunning length rocking inside her soaked vagina, and she surprisedly noticed her womb flinch tightly deep down. _Grin._ That little witch inside could also hardly wait to take him in. _But not yet. Just a little bit more of dolorous sweetness for my Lord, and we'll soon scream together. _

And then she hungrily mouthed the salmon head of her Seeker's cock, and softly started to suck. Richard's groans were now really like he was out of his mind, panting and whining loudly _yes,_ _please, Cara, please_ as she gradually found the perfect angle, the perfect suction, and slowly pulled his full length in. His hips were jumping between her hands furiously. Almost at the peak Cara stopped, and went on gently tickling the nub with her lips and tongue, tasting the first salty drops of his overflowing delight. She knew she had to stop, not only because of that, but to help out her pulsating sheath, which was now literally weeping for his erection to fill her in. Richard sensed the moment too, gasping once more and then pulled out from her mouth, breathing hard. He carefully rolled her on her back, meshed their swollen lips again in a kiss almost as intense as a penetration, and separated her all too willing thighs with her knee. „You're something… un… imag'nable" – he stuttered out, and pierced her throbbing flesh at last. The feeling was almost blindigly beautiful, and Cara could not believe she was _already_ coming, sensing Richard's hard shaft pressing up higher in her. But her soft, sweet, heart-wrenching orgasm was approaching implacably, and she nearly sobbed from the delight washing over her. This was nothing like she ever knew, orgasms never before resembled this mellow, earth-ancient, womb-squeezing happiness she felt now. Her man did not move a muscle till she finished her moaning cries, stiffening inside her twitching vagina he was just watching her cum with the wildest grimace of delight on his gorgeous face. And then he started to pump inside her, his rock-hard penis sliding in and out, his rythm becoming so intoxicating as an enchantment, searching for the angle Cara wanted to meet again so bad. Naturally, Richard soon found the way to make her explode again, banging at her spot, drawing slight circular patterns with the head of his cock, until she came again, her head tossing back to the ground, with his name on her trembling lips. This time the violent delight seemed to last forever, and Cara, now totally unaware about the screams escaping her throat, grabbed Richard's shoulder and pulsed, pulsed, and pulsed, squeezing him inside with the most savage grip of pleasure. The husky cry Richard gave when he came, rocking violently deep inside her, was the last thing she heard before she slipped into sweet nothingness. _Ooohh_ _Spirits, Cara, yes…_

The fire was hardly more than orange-hued ashes when Richard's breathing finally slowed down, and he lifted his head from Cara's breasts to look in her eyes. Obviously, he was searching for words to describe what just happened to them, and Cara was shocked to find herself in dread of what he might say.

-This was… I've never… - he breathed softly, lightly flushing from the memories, then his words drowned into a satisfied moan.

-I know. Me neither… - in her surprise and relief, she choked out the utter truth, although she definitely did _not_ want to be that honest. She, also, never ever had such a volcanic eruption in her whole life, and now Richard is aware of that too. _Great._

-Thank you for this, Cara. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was.

-You don't need to thank me at all. The delight to please you was all mine.

Richard gave a stunned look, his eyes tightened at her answer:

-Please me? Was this all about the Mord'Sith pleasing the Lord Rahl?

-No, Seeker. This was all about a woman wanting a man so madly she nearly died of pleasure when she finally managed to get him between her thighs. – Richard burst out into laughter at the familiar grumpy tone, shaking his head, and Cara could't help but give a smug smirk too.

-Can I ask you one more thing?- he asked in a clearly amused voice.

-It depends.

-What? I thought after this…ummm… indulgence we shared I could ask you _anything_.

Cara rolled her eyes just for the show.

-All right. What is it?

-Could you please stop calling me Seeker and Lord Rahl and things like that? _Richard _cansound so… sensual on your lips. If that makes any sense… - he added muttering.

-It does – Cara nodded, her whole being shivering at his words, while he leant to her with another brain-meltingly delicious kiss.

The smoke of the fire was mixing with something intoxicatingly delicious as she paced back from the woods, with another armful of thicker branches. Smelt as if some juicy pork belly was roasting crisply, although Cara was sure they merrily finished off the last bites of bacon days ago. Her stomach grumbled loudly, bringing Richard's playful, throaty chuckle in response from the fireplace.

-Mouth-watering, isn't it? You wouldn't guess what I've found in the pocket of my sack.

-Well, according to the smells you couldn't convince me that it's porridge. – she answered in a gloomy tone, trying not to show how his giggle warmed her heart again.

-Because it's HAM! – he yelled victoriously, jostling his fist up in the air like a clownish youngster, and Cara really couldn't help but give in to the smile tickling her lips.

-Ham's nice. And I've found some more apples. They're sour as hell, but will be a good company to the heavy dinner.

-I cannot believe it. You're beginning to sound like a prodigy of a chef. – he was inevitably on the verge of laughter now, and Cara admitted it was becoming some kind of creepy. All day long, he had been like this, joking almost as much as he had _before_, when their team was still… a whole. On their way to cut the road through the forest, Richard was talking more today than he had in the last few months altogether, and smiled even more than he rambled. If only it was real, if only it could stay this way, that would be utter perfection. But given the circumstances, it was simply suspicious at the moment.

Richard was pulling the dripping slices of bacon off the prod, helping himself with a green branch he found on the ground.

-Dinner's served, my lady, have a seat. – he playfully bowed, handing Cara her portion.

She sat down, her ankles pulled under her bottom, and placed the plate on her lap, hardly waiting for the ham to cool down a bit. It really did smell glamorous. _Well, though he's being an insufferable chatterbox lately, at least he knows his ways of cooking. Which makes one of us._ Mmm. Tasty… Richard seated himself comfortably close to her, their thighs shimmying together. It was nice. Seeing him eat with a decent appetite, and seeing him smile, hearing the soft sounds of him occasionally sucking the fat off his fingers, and feeling his warmth was homely and incredibly arousing at the same time. All of which reminded Cara about the thought she'd been chewing on all day long.

Richard didn't seem the least bit uncomfortable waking up in the morning, lying butt naked in Cara's arms, their legs twined up in a messy knot and his dashing morning erection pressing hard at her bellybutton. He looked so sensually lazy and pleased that it literally hurt, but didn't seem to insist on commenting their behaviour. He just smiled his usual „good morning", stretched delightedly, and went on with their daily routine, getting dressed and packing up. Only when Cara handed his vest to him, dug up from under her jacket, did he give a cat-like, satisfied smile of rememberance, so Cara knew last night was not just a wanton dream of hers.

If there was anything she'd wanted more than not having to talk about last night, well that was to finally get to talk about it. Or at least, to know Richard's thoughts about it. As for her, she could have thrown herself on top of him again at least a dozen times only today, and it would have been really nice to know if there was any hope for last night to happen again. But there was not a snowflake's chance in hell that she should bring it up, she knew that. Oh no. No, no. She positioned herself to bide, and see how the screw turns tonight.

Richard seemed to be finally finished with his meal, he started to stuff their gear back into the sack again, so Cara stood up too, and threw some more wood on the fire. Then she threw the residues of the three apples atop too. Then she unwrapped the bedroll and flattened it accurately. Then she pulled six long sips from her gourd. And then, she finally managed to turn around and look at Richard. He was lying at the other end of the fire, idly leaning on his elbow and watching her bustling somewhat absently, his eyes the colour of melted topaz in the firelight.

_Huh._ So, what now? She hated feeling so… awkward. She was not used to be embarrassed at anything, having played the Mord'Sith whore enough times to be perfectly comfortable in these situations. But this… _he wants me-he wants me not_ game was ridiculously nerve-racking.

Finally, Richard said softly – Please come here, Cara.

She pulled two more sips from the lukewarm water just to save her face and not to jump right next to him, then she sat herself down besides him, her stomach in a tight knot, and cowardly gazed into the fire.

-Cara… I just wanted to say that… last night was… something I thought can only exist in the wildest drunken dreams. I still can't believe anything can be _this_ good. And that I… - long, long pause, only broken by the quietly popping firewood. Finally, Cara couldn't hold out any longer, and looked straight in his eyes.

-That you would like me to… please you again? – _And again, and again, until we're nothing more than pulsating, brainless piles of exploded cells…?_

His gaze now was darker, still a soft, melted colour, but slightly reddish-glowing with the light of flames. – Oh, no, my lady. Tonight, I want _you_ to be the one who's pleased and served. – He carefully laid her down on the ground, leaning over her protectively, and kissed her lower lip with a light suck. Her mouth responded immediately, inquistively savouring the apple-scented lips, gently biting into their mind-blowing softness, strokingly adjusting her toungue to his, already far beyond any reason. The mellow taste of his kisses, drops of him streaming through her like a draught of delicate poison, like whispers of affectionate silkyness flowing through her veins, there was nothing like it in the world. Watch can wait. Sleep can wait. Richard is all that matters.


End file.
